Montreal blows another 3rd period lead and loses in regulation. Four losses in a row now.... coming back to the pack?
December NHL Game Thread
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The East is kind of a train wreck at the moment. Washington is the best, and barring injury I'd expect them to be the favorites for the rest of the year. Montreal at full health is probably the closest. After that, it is WIDE open. In my opinion, Tampa is a sleeping monster, but they can't seem to get their shit together and the Stamkos situation is the elephant in the room for them. That could derail them in a hurry if it continues to spiral out of control.
Checking in on the Shark Tank...
Lost 2-0 to the Wild last night. 14-14-1, 29 points. The good news is the pick is in the lottery at 9th overall, and they're only 4 points ahead of the Blue Jackets and Maple Leafs for first overall. So, they're not a good hockey team. The bad news is the Pacific division is so damn awful the Sharks are still only 1 point out of 2nd in the division and a playoff spot, which would knock them out of the lottery. We're going to need the Ducks to get their shit together and then one of Vancouver/Arizona/Calgary/Edmonton to leap in front of San Jose here.
Lost 2-0 to the Wild last night. 14-14-1, 29 points. The good news is the pick is in the lottery at 9th overall, and they're only 4 points ahead of the Blue Jackets and Maple Leafs for first overall. So, they're not a good hockey team. The bad news is the Pacific division is so damn awful the Sharks are still only 1 point out of 2nd in the division and a playoff spot, which would knock them out of the lottery. We're going to need the Ducks to get their shit together and then one of Vancouver/Arizona/Calgary/Edmonton to leap in front of San Jose here.
It once felt impossible, but the Bruins are now 5 pts behind the Canadiens for the division lead with 3 games in hand.
Habs are headed out on an 8 game road trip through the Winter Classic...
Dallas, Nashville, Minnesota, Washington, Tampa Bay, Florida, Boston, Philly
Not an easy road ahead.
Dallas, Nashville, Minnesota, Washington, Tampa Bay, Florida, Boston, Philly
Not an easy road ahead.
Crazy that by the Winter Classic there is a distinct possibility that the Bs will be in first. Never would have thought that was going to happen after October.
I'm sure a lot of people will talk about how losing Price is hurting Montreal, but I did a quick little read of their last 10 games (I included the game before the 2-6-1 stretch for the sake of round numbers and to prove there had been signs of this coming. Their GF in that time frame: 2,2,2,2,2,1,2,3,1,0. It's not entirely the gap between Price and Condon/Tokarski, it's also that their offense has returned to last year's levels.
I wonder how much of that is a result of playing more conservatively with much weaker goaltending. Then again, it never made any sense that a team with Thomas freaking Plekanic as the #1 center could be that good offensively.
Went to the Flames/Blues game yesterday. Parayko made this pretty nifty play.
http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on-hockey/25419838/watch-blues-d-colton-parayko-passes-to-himself-for-beautiful-goal
http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/eye-on-hockey/25419838/watch-blues-d-colton-parayko-passes-to-himself-for-beautiful-goal
The offense has returned to last year's levels, but not in the way you'd think. For most of the last few years, the Habs have given up a decent-to-bad number of shots, not shot very much, and essentially asked Price to carry them and hoped for some power play goals or junk in front of the net to get a W.
But the advanced stats love the Habs this year, because they're usually blowing the doors off the opposition in terms of shots. Good shots too, not just crap from the point. Opposing goalies have something like a .950 save percentage during this streak, and the Dallas game was the first game where they legitimately stank.
The LA Kings game was where it turned absurd. 45 shots to 20, Habs don't give up a single shot on two penalty kills, Habs lose 3-0.
Karma's a bitch.
But really, that likely means that this is not coming back to their "true mean" performance and that they aren't really this bad, but not as good as they were in October.
But really, that likely means that this is not coming back to their "true mean" performance and that they aren't really this bad, but not as good as they were in October.
Condon's save percentage is .903, Tokarski's is .894. Not going to win many games with that level of goal tending.
Their PDO is 100.9 in all situations. They were white hot at the beginning of this season, but now are ice cold. Peaks and valley's and all that but the end result is they're probably about where they should be, maybe a tad bellow due to the awful non-Price goaltending. Their team save percentage has cratered without Price, sinking to .913. He'll boost that up a bit. They are shooting 9.55% which is right around where they were last year, so it's a bit high but probably sustainable.
Their PDO is 100.9 in all situations. They were white hot at the beginning of this season, but now are ice cold. Peaks and valley's and all that but the end result is they're probably about where they should be, maybe a tad bellow due to the awful non-Price goaltending. Their team save percentage has cratered without Price, sinking to .913. He'll boost that up a bit. They are shooting 9.55% which is right around where they were last year, so it's a bit high but probably sustainable.
Habs lose again, 2-1 in Minny.
Wings and Bolts also lost. Florida beats Ottawa in a SO to move into 3rd.
Wings and Bolts also lost. Florida beats Ottawa in a SO to move into 3rd.
Well, if the B's had to end their points streak, as guess today was as a good a day as any to do it.